Philosophy

Choices are like seeds. We plant them in our lives with every decision we make. Wise choices often bare good outcomes, like good seeds produce good fruit. Similarly, poor choices often bare negative, even harmful, outcomes. The outcomes that grow from our choices affect not only us, but our communities as well. It's important, then, to really think about the choices we're making so we're not surprised by what grows from them. After all, a person who plants an apple seed isn't surprised when he or she comes back later to find an apple tree.

Community Accountability helps students take ownership of this simple lesson. We meet students where their choices have led them, we hold them accountable to their choices in order to respectfully challenge the way they think about making decisions as a community member, and we walk beside them throughout the adjudication process so they know our response is because we care about the choices they make but do not judge them as individuals beholden to their past. Our combined experience as educators, academic research in the field of student development and our own living faith inform this process. Accordingly, we feel confident it will create a living and learning environment that empowers students to positively engage the collegiate experience academically, personally and collectively.